


A little house on the hill

by LucyLightwood



Series: A Story In Three Parts [3]
Category: Eyewitness (US TV)
Genre: Adoption, Angst, Drama, F/F, Family Drama, Family Feels, Fluff, Foster Care, Happy Ending, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, mentions of drug use, set in the "future"
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-01-10 09:56:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12296754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LucyLightwood/pseuds/LucyLightwood
Summary: After everything they have gone through they have finally reached a safe space. Will it remain the same after they decide to become foster parents?





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> I am so terribly sorry for the huge delay. I know I have no excuses but Med. school is really hard and I've barely had any time to sit down to do any creative writing. I am posting this to push myself to a) finish it and b) continue doing something I love a.k.a writing.  
> Hope you all like it... I wasn't really sure at first, but family fluff and drama is something I love.

Part I. / Chapter 1

_"How many bedrooms in our house?"_

_"One?" Philip chuckled as if it was obvious "Why would you want more?"_

_"Duh, for our foster kids?"_

*

"Are you okay?" Philip smiled at him. He was okay. Of course he was okay. It wasn't like they were going to meet their foster child or anything. He breathed in and smiled. 

They had gone a long way together, and even though things were much better than when they were teens, it was still hard sometimes. Some days Philip spent completely focused on his pictures, or cuddled next to him with a book. 

It was nice. Lukas understood the feeling, sometimes the only thing he wanted to do was ride his bike or walk with their dogs listening to their music. Philip kept making them playlists, they got longer with every anniversary.

"She probably won't bite, you know?" He was pretty smug about it, but Lukas felt like he was going to vomit. He felt ready to be a dad, or something like that. To start a family, yeah. That.

They had talked about it when they were young but it was just a fantasy back then. Now it felt real. Really real. Extremely real. 

It took them a while to get all the paperwork done, but they had decided to foster a teen so things seemed to go a little bit faster thanks to that. Philip reminded him that nobody wants a teen, everyone wants babies. That sounded so fucking unfair to him. If it wasn't for Gabe and Helen he wouldn't have met Philip and that would've been a tragedy. 

"No, I know. I just want everything to be ready" 

They had made a room for her, and bought some cans of paint so they could paint the walls whatever color she wanted. Philip told him a lot of stuff to prepare for this. Things not to say or ask, things to do and say. 

"It's as ready as it's ever going to be, Lukas" 

They smiled at each other and looked at their wall clock. Social services were bringing her soon. They had seen a picture -but she was little in that one- and heard about her story but nothing else. This wasn't usual, they should've met her at least once or at least her parents. Sadly, she had lost her mother really young and his father had died a couple years ago.

"Do you think she'll like it here?"

"I liked Tivoli" Philip smiled "Well, sort of."

Lukas took his hand and rolled his eyes at him. They weren't living in Tivoli anymore, but they weren't that far away. Philip was a city kid, but they had compromised on a house close to the city but with enough privacy and a big back yard.

"If we're lucky there will be no triple ho-..." He heard a car pull over and stopped mid sentence, getting up from the sofa and walking quickly to open the door. He felt almost as excited as he was when a sponsor wanted to meet with him, or before a race. 

The car was black with tinted windows, but he knew who was his kid the minute she got off the car.

Young, angry looking and... woah, tattooed. His father would've killed him if he had done that at fifteen. She looked savage, but he wasn't sure if he should say that. Being a dad and everything. Well, foster dad.  
Philip had said not to be scared to show affection, and every time Lukas thought about Philip's foster parents he remembered how Gabe was - all love and smiles. 

Alright, the girl didn't want anything to do with them. It was clear with her demeanor, shoulders tight, face scrunched up and hands practically fisted. Her hair was blonde but pretty short, and the other thing Lukas couldn't stop staring were the tattoos. They covered most of her left arm, and he could see some ink going down the right side of her neck. 

"Elizabeth, right?" Philip smiled ignoring the social worker, he wasn't very fond of them. 

"Lizz" She gave him a look, almost as if she wanted to fight. Or maybe that was what she was expecting. 

It reminded Philip, even if they were so different. Philip had been quiet and kept everything inside. This girl seemed like she was about to explode the world and watch it burn. 

"Okay, Lizz. We have a bedroom for you upstairs, you can leave your things there"

She wasn't carrying much. Just one bag and whatever he had on herself. It was clear her clothes were worn out and old. 

They talked to the social worker for a couple of moments while Lizz looked around and gave a few tempting steps.  
Lukas turned around when he heard a small scream. Shit.

"Oh, don't worry! He won't do anything" He ran to grab one of their dogs, a really big German sheppard they had found lost a couple of years ago during a storm. "He's friendly"

"Keep it away" She growled, and moved away. Something told Lukas she really wanted to pet him but was trying to stay mad and uninviting. Yeah, not trying to get attached? That was young Philip. 

"Sure, don't worry" He lead the dog back to the backyard and closed the gate. "They are really excited, it's usually just us... Do you like that?" Lukas grinned, Lizzie was looking at one of his dirt bikes. 

"It's okay, I guess" She looked away. He liked the kid. 

*

"There's paint on the basement, if you want to change the wall's color. We know white can be a bit dull" Philip told her once she was all set up in the bedroom. Lizzie didn't have many things, and it broke his heart because he knew exactly how that was. Only being able to carry whatever you have on you and nothing else. 

"It's okay" She paced around, looking like a tiger in a cage. Was she thinking about running away? Philip pursed his lips a moment and felt like he imagined Helen must have felt all those years ago. He wanted to reach out to her, but maybe life had made him way too cold? He didn't think of himself as cold, and Lukas had never said anything like that but faced with a teenager he wasn't sure how to act. Damn. He was old. 

"We're right next door, if you need anything. Dinner's at eight, we all eat together" Yeah, maybe he had borrowed those audiobooks from Helen.

She kicked something on the floor. "Are you famous or something?"

"Uhm, Lukas is into motocross, maybe you know him or seen a poster or something?"

Lizz looked at him for a moment before going back to her bored posture. 

"Or maybe you are into art? I'm a photographer." Yeah, it wasn't like he got that much job or fame or whatever. But he did what he loved. It took him so much time to know what he wanted to do, so many sleepless nights. And so many nights away from Lukas. 

But it all had turned out for the better. He smiled playing with his wedding ring. 

"I'm into being alone"

Philip nodded "Alright then. We'll be downstairs. Doors open if possible, okay?" He moved away and was going down the stairs when he heard the door slam shut.

Okay.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am incredibly sorry for the long time it took me to update this. Truth is that last year was a hard one, personally and academically. I barely had time to put on this.  
> I hope you will like this chapter and I truly hope to be more consistent and quick with the updates. This year is supposed to be easier academically so... :)

They both woke up at the same time. Noise. What was that? After everything they never got a normal sleeping schedule. Yes, they did sleep quite a lot but they would wake up at the smallest noise.  
Philip got up and grabbed the baseball bat they kept next to the bed. For... precaution. You never know. 

"You check on Lizz, I'm going downstairs" He ordered, pointing at Lukas and then the door.

"We have better chances together" 

They held each other's eyes and agreed silently. Philip felt safe next to him, whatever happened they would fight through it. He still remembered the way Lukas had tried to stop the killer to get to him at his mother's old house. The memory didn't scare him anymore. It was in the past, but it was nice to remember how Lukas just jumped in front of him when the killer moved. 

"I'm sure it's just the wood. The dogs would've barked" 

"Yeah" Philip agreed but kept walking as silently as possible. If someone had gotten past their dogs and into the house he was going to come out of it alive. 

He opened Lizz's bedroom's door and, oh, of course. He sighed. 

"She's not here. She probably ran away" 

Lukas seemed sad and disappointed. He had warned him this type of things could happen, he had thought about running away from Helen and Gabe way too many times. Hell, some of those he had actually ran back to the city to sleep outside his mom's house. 

"Okay, I'll go and see if I can find her. I'll grab the car" 

Philip nodded "I'll go outside, maybe she's still around. It's pretty dark outside..." 

She would've to walk miles to get to the city or to the next town and he wasn't sure Lizz knew the way. God, he was so worried. Had Helen felt this every time he ran away? Okay, maybe he started to understand why she had tracked his phone. Not cool, but understandable.  
Lukas walked straight to their garage while he opened the kitchen backdoor. He frowned. 

"Lukas, it's okay" He spoke slightly louder hoping Lukas would hear him, and then moved towards the girl's silhouette. 

"Are you okay? Zoe, please just talk to me. I know I'm not there but you can't do what your dad wants from you. Please, just call me back okay? Shit-..." 

"Zoe?" 

Lizz jumped and looked at him, clutching her cellphone against her chest. He knew she didn't have a sister, but maybe a friend from another foster home, or someone she cared from her previous life. 

"I was just making a call, didn't want to wake you" 

"It's late. Let's go inside, we can drink some coffee" 

She gave him a distrustful look but followed suit. A groan escaped her when she saw Lukas.

"Do you never sleep or what?" 

Philip smirked "We are light sleepers. Everything's okay Lukas, go back to bed"

"No way" 

Lukas seemed a teenager still when he did stuff like that and he couldn't believe how in love he was of this stupid boy. Philip chuckled and nodded, sitting on the table and gesturing Lizz to do the same.

"Coffee" Lukas said, already knowing what he wanted. God, had they gotten that domestic? Philip grabbed the cup he was offered and looked at the girl. Shit, she shouldn't drink coffee so late at night. 

Well, it was okay if they weren't perfect at this parenting thing. 

"Thanks" She looked at Lukas and then back at him. "Are you going to keep me off my phone?" 

"Why would we do that?" 

She shrugged. Alright, she clearly had been in some fucked up foster homes. It was incredible, really, how after all those years the system was still so fucked up. He sighed and drank from his cup. Sometimes he wanted to blow up the whole fucking system and take all those kids away to a perfect Island or something.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell us who you called." She looked surprised "But if there's something wrong, we might be able to help you"  
Lizz thought about it, or at least that's what Philip thought. She looked at both of them. Lukas was incredibly silent, surely because he didn't want to fuck up with her. It was adorable, really. 

"I don't think anyone can help" 

"We know the feeling" Lukas smiled at her. 

"I mean, I guess I could tell you" Lizz rolled her eyes "There's a girl. That's all" 

Philip didn't look surprised. It wasn't anything about her, but why would he be surprised? There was always a girl, or a guy, or whatever. 

"Zoe?"

"Yeah, Zoe. She's really nice and all" 

Lukas raised an eyebrow. With the years he had become more thoughtful and Philip felt his knees weaken every time he made that face. 

"Her parents are not okay with it?" Of course that would be the first thing Lukas thought about. Well, it was still a possibility. The world had moved on so much but you can't change some people even if you try your hardest. 

"No. His dad is the worst. He thinks I can't give her what... He wants her to have a husband. He's really old fashioned. Like... Like 1950's old fashioned" She swallowed and moved uncomfortably on the chair "He arranged a marriage for her since she was like, I don't know, twelve or something. She's so scared." 

Lukas frowned at that and looked at Philip. What could they do? No, really. Call social services? That girl was with her parents and they highly doubted that would help. Shit.

"I'm sure she won't marry someone before she's eighteen and by then she can leave her parents" 

"You. Don't. Get. It." She looked desperate now, Philip's heart broke. "His dad is determined. He found out about us, and I know he called social services saying all that shit about me so they would have me relocated... Look, I'm scared about her. He's gonna... I don't know. But he's gonna do something bad." 

Philip shook his head "Do you want to call her from our house phone?" 

"Why?" 

"You can if you want to. That's all" 

Lizz nodded and got up, walking to their phone. Philip felt someone took his hand and looked back at Lukas. They were both worried, damn. How could they help?

He smiled softly and caressed the back of Lukas' hand. Easy? Nah. They never got easy. But he wouldn't have it any other way. 

*  
"She's just a worried kid" 

Philip had his head against Lukas' chest, and he could feel his words like a strong vibration right under his cheek. He smiled with his eyes closed. 

"I know she is. But Helen thought I was you know, only a troubled kid and we were going through something pretty serious" 

Lukas chuckled, and kissed his hair. Philip had learned -in time- that humor could mitigate the pain and guilt and... fear he still felt at the back of his head. It was softer, like a low hum that sometimes tried to get louder and absorb his whole life. But he wouldn't allow it. They wouldn't. He was stronger now, he had the tools to keep that pain and darkness at bay. Or at least he thought so. 

"Do you really think she was telling the truth? The world has changed a lot. It's hard for me to imagine a family that would still behave like... that" 

Philip looked up at that and smirked "Well, you are the liar. Tell me if she's lying. You know, it takes one to know one and all that"

Lukas pushed him softly but kept him close, giggling at his stupid comment. Yeah, they had aged, but every time Lukas smiled Philip felt he was looking at that teenager he had fell for. 

"I think she thinks she's telling the truth" 

Philip frowned, but knew exactly what he meant. Alright. Then if Lizz felt what she was saying was true, then they would support her. But he wasn't sure that her version was the reality. And what was worse: he wasn't sure they would be able to help if it was. What could they do? If the kid was with an abusive household the only option was... pull her into the system? The still abusive system? 

He had gotten a nice family, but he knew many hadn't been that lucky. Philip had tried to portray it with his pictures, try to... expose the system in some way. It's not like he was a savior or anything, but if he could help with his work he was going to do it. Charities, all that. 

"What can we do?" 

"Support her?" Lukas had, somehow, turned into someone with good advice. And he didn't make as many horrid choices as before. Philip was slightly proud of that, because he was sure it had been his good influence. 

"But how?" 

They groaned and chuckled after, looking at each other. Yes, they were that couple that finished each other sentences or knew exactly how to respond to certain situations. Philip never thought, not in a million years, he would be this lucky.

*

"Good morning" Lukas smiled because mornings were awesome. He really liked them now that he was an adult. Because mornings meant coffee and bacon and a soft kiss from Philip and the barking of their dogs asking for food.

This morning though, was completely different. They had a moody teenager on the table looking almost as if she wanted to die instead of being there with them and Philip looked, well, worried. And tense.

"So, coffee?" He offered her, but saw her look. 

"No." 

"How did you sleep?" He tried again, smiling.

"I didn't" 

Alright. Lukas kissed Philip and started making some scrambled eggs to keep himself busy. "Did you feed the dogs?" 

"Yeah" Philip sighed and sat on the table drinking his black coffee. He still liked that. "Have you met our Max, Lizz?"

She gave him a look and then nodded. Max was their oldest dog, and Lukas didn't want to think what was going to happen once it passed. They were going to be so torn. 

"You are not blind or anything, why do you have a service dog?" 

Ugh. Lukas turned around to cook and not look at them, because well, that was a hard talk. Well, maybe not. Anyway, he didn't want to be the one to have it.

"I had PTSD" Philip sounded relaxed, so he relaxed too.

"Why?"

Silence. Okay, he had to be a man and talk. He stopped what he was doing and looked at her, trying not to be angry and not sound affected by the thing. 

"We... saw something bad" 

"Understatement of the year, Philip?" 

Philip smiled at him and rolled his eyes "God, you are still so dramatic" 

Lizz was looking at them like they were both insane and she was probably right. 

"It's a long story" Lukas said, shrugging "but we witnessed a brutal crime. So... yeah" 

"That sucks" she whispered, clearly not knowing what else to say. Lukas wondered if she was trying to find the words. Teens feel like they have the weight of doing everything right. If only they knew they don't have to handle their parents problems.

Damn, parents. Lukas still felt excited at the thought. 

"We are okay now. It was hard for a while and then it was not. Eggs?" He offered, changing the subject because the murders did not deserve any more of their time. 

"Yeah, sure" 

*

Lukas felt someone tailing behind him but said nothing. He was used to being followed by his dogs, but this shadow was quite human. He kneeled down to start working on one of his bikes, he still repaired them and practiced but he wasn't a professional rider anymore. Those careers are short since it's a really demanding sport. But it was alright, he had done good. And he felt good. 

"Need a hand?" 

Lukas smiled and slightly turned around, Lizz was there. She was probably swallowing her own pride.

"You like bikes?" 

She shrugged "My dad had a repair shop. For... cars and stuff. I used to help around" 

"Hm. I could use some help, Philip has no clue about any of this thing, you don't know how hard it is to try and explain it. Would be nice to have someone who gets it" 

He swore he saw a smile on her face. Well, that had to be progress right?

"Dad said mom had no idea about it either" She walked towards him and looked at the bike "He said she would be appalled at my lack of... you know, dresses" 

Lukas smiled. "I know very little of my mom" 

She looked at him, frowning and her eyes were... extremely sad. He wanted to hug her, but Philip had told him to keep in mind foster kids could not want to be touched. 

"I never knew my mom" Lizz whispered "she died when I was little. Dad said she loved me" 

"I'm sure she did" Lukas spoke softly, because he knew that pain. He knew what it was to not have a mom and to want to have one. To wonder what it would be like. Would things be different if she had been there? Knowing the answer was "yes" was the thing that hurt the most. 

Lizz seemed to compose herself and sat on the ground next to him, rolling up her sleeves. "Okay, your bike is a mess" 

Lukas frowned "Now, now, missy..." 

*

"Oh, no" Philip looked completely appalled when he saw them enter the kitchen. "She likes bikes, doesn't she?" 

Lukas looked down at his own hands, alright they were a little bit messy and maybe it was obvious they had been working with oil and well, bikes. He couldn't help his grin, though.

"Yeah, his dad had a shop. She knows what she's doing" 

"Good, now he can stop talking about it to me" Philip joked, so he pulled him in for a kiss. 

"You used bikes as an excuse to get to know me, though" 

"Ugh" Lizz moved away from them like any teen would do at the sight of old people -ha, old- kissing. 

Philip left a big box on the table, he probably spent the morning on the dark room taking care of his pictures and preparing his next exposition.  
He was good, and Lukas was extremely proud of him. 

"Am I going to the town's school? Or what?"

"Well, we thought you would want to go to the city?" Philip looked at her, they weren't so far away from the city, and maybe that would be a more receptive space for her. "We could drive you there and pick you up, it's not that far away"

She seemed to think about it. "Do I have to get up early?"  
Lukas tried not to laugh because that would've been the first thing he would've thought about if he still went to school.

"Yes, well, yeah" Philip looked completely confused at what the problem was, and that only made him more adorable.

"I'd rather go to the one in town" 

"Good thinking" Lukas raised his hand, expecting her to high-five him, but she just stared at him with one eyebrow raised. Okay, she was too cool for that, got it. He smiled softly and patted her back. "I'm gonna feed the dogs, and take them for a walk. Do you need anything from the store?"

Philip shook his head and kissed him on the cheek as a "see you later" gesture. They had kept at the whole being touchy thing, especially after their long distance relationship. 

*

"Who's this?" Lizz said, holding a picture of a brunette woman and Philip. 

"Oh, that's my mom" He smiled sadly. "She passed away a couple of years ago. I loved her dearly." 

Her expression changed for a couple moments and then he placed the picture with extreme care back where she had found it. 

"I'm sorry" When she looked at him, Philip could see she truly meant it. And for the first time in a long while, he wanted to comfort someone after talking about his mother. Anne was... He missed her every day. She had fought drugs with all her power, and she had won but her body was too worn up. After rehab she moved close to Helen and Gabe's, she really liked that place. And for a time they were really happy. He was really happy with his big and weird family. But... well, that was too much happiness wasn't it? 

His mom suffered a heart attack one summer and she just... She didn't gave up, she just... She went to sleep. Philip liked to think about it that way. She was resting now, away from all the shit the world had thrown at her. And sometimes in the mornings he could swore he smelled cigarettes around the house, even though neither one of them smoked. 

"Yes, me too. She was a great mom. She would've loved you, she thought tattoos were cool" 

Lizz smiled at that "Dad thought so too. Is your dad... okay?" She pointed at the picture, clearly not knowing how to ask him about any of it.

"I never knew my biological father. Gabe, my foster parent, is the closest thing I ever knew to a dad. And his wife, Helen, has become a second mother to me. A... much stricter one." 

"She's the cop, right? Hm" She looked back at the picture, probably trying to imagine how it all merged together. 

"Did you manage to talk to your friend?" 

Lizz nodded but bit her lip, hard. Something was off, but Philip wasn't sure he trusted her version yet. It was pretty hypocritical of him to think that, considering how much he had wanted Helen to trust him. But, well, he had been lying. 

"I'm sure she will be okay. You can try calling her again" 

"It's just... I don't know" She sat down on the table and looked up at him "I just don't know" 

He sat next to her and just kept her company for a couple of minutes, sometimes that was all it took. Sometimes that was all he had wanted, before. Someone to be there. 

"I promise you we will do anything to help her. If you want you could talk to Helen. She retired but she's a cop at heart. If anything's wrong, she can figure it out" 

Lizz looked down at the table and shrugged "Yeah, I guess"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, if you liked it please leave a comment. Even a small one is much appreciated!  
> -Lucy

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it :)


End file.
